Acoustical ceiling construction



Feb. 19, 1935. KaLlNZELL ET A 1,992,159

ACOUSTICAL CEILING CONSTRUCTION Filed March 27, 1931 w M INVENTOR VHARRY K. L/MZELL. BY HEEBEET W- PEEL.

I AT'II'ORNEY 7 Patented Feb. 19, 1935 UNITED STATES ACOUSTIOAL CEILINGCONSTRUCTION Harry K. Linzell, La Grange, and Herbert W. Reel,Hinsdale,-Il1., assignors to United States Gypsum Company, of IllinoisChicago, 111., a corporation Application March 27, 1931, Serial No.525,774 4 Claims. (01. 'l2-67) This invention relates to buildingconstructions, and has reference more particularly to attaching meansfor tile, such as acustical ceiling tiles.

In correcting the acoustical properties of a room and preventing thereverberation of sounds, it is common to line the walls and ceiling of aroom with absorbent material, usually in the form of tiles. These tilesare often made of mineral wool base with suitable binders, but they alsomay be made of porous ceramic material or other suitable fibrous orporous materials. Difficulty has been experienced in keeping these tilesfirmly attached to a ceiling since the tiles tend. to expand andcontract with changes of temperature in the room and loosen from theirfastening means. Bond failure may also be due to bad plaster, paint,etc.

An object of this invention, therefore, is to provide a means for firmlyattaching acoustical 2o tiles to a wall, ceiling or other buildingsurface so that the tiles will not tend to loosen from their fasteningowing to contraction and expansion; also to improve attaching means forbuilding tiles in other respects hereinafter specified and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing forming a part ofthis specification, in which Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation through aportion 30 of the acoustical ceiling construction showing one form ofattaching the acoustical tiles to said ceil Fig. 2 is a sectionalperspective view showing second form of attachment for the acousticaltiles,

Fig. 3 is a perspective view, partly in section, showing a third form ofattachment for the acoustical tiles, and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the acoustical tiles.

The acoustical tile preferably consists of a body or slab 10 of fibrousmaterial held together by a suitable binder, thisfibrous materialpreferably being fireproof, such asmineral wool. Other vegetable andmineralfibers'may be used, or the tile may consist of ceramic material,such as clay, made porous by a multitude of inner-connecting poresopening at the exposed face 11 of the tile. Outer edges 12 of the tileare preferably beveled to give a pleasing architectural appearance. Therear surface 13 of the tile is preferably provided with a layer, ofpaper 14, or other suitable material impervious to the passage of air,for the purpose of preventing breathing of air through the porous tilefrom its exposed surface through the body and out the rear surface 13thereof. This layer 14 may also be of cement or other plastic material.If paper is used, it is firmly attached to the tile by a suitable layerof adhesive. The paper layer 14 preferably extends only over apredetermined area of the rear surface 13 of the tile, so as to leaveexposed areas 15 on the tile which may be connected by suitableattaching means to a building surface 16. The layer 14 in preventingpassage of air through the tile, prevents the tile from becoming soiledand discolored by the impurities in the air which would otherwise passthrough the tile. The plaster layer 16 is preferably formed on expandedmetal lath 17, which is attached by suitable hangers 18 to channels 19attached to the main framework of the ceiling. However, the plasterlayer 16 may consist of a gypsum board, such as plasterboard orwallboard, or it may consist of a layer of plaster attached to wood lathor plaster boad.

In our preferred form of attaching means, a furring strip of woven wiremesh 20, or expanded metal lath, is secured to the ceiling surface 16 bystaples 21 driven into place, and by U shaped wire clips 23 having atoggle arm 24 looped about the upper end of said clip 23. The clips 23extend through a hole 25 which is drilled or otherwise formed in theplastered surface 16 and the arm 24 is arranged parallel to the clip 23which said clip and arm are pushed through the hole 25 from the lowersurface of the plaster 16. The clip 23 is preferably in the form of aU-shaped wire having the lower ends thereof extending through the strip20 and being bent laterally of said strip 20 or being twisted togetherso as to firmly attach the strip 20 to the ceiling surface 16. After thewire clip 23 is pushed upwardly through the opening 25 for aconsiderable dis-. tance, the arms 24 turn to a horizontal position andthe clip 23 is again pulled downwardly to connect its lower ends to thestrip 20. The staples 21 and the clip 22 may be used separately ortogether with very satisfactory results. -After the metal strip 20 isfirmly attached to the ceiling surface 16, a cementing material 26 isspread thickly over the strip 20 and on the tile surface 15 so as tooverlap the edges of the paper sheet 14. The tile are then pushed intoplace so that the cementing material 26 firmly and adhesively attachesthe tile to the ceiling surface 16. The cement 26 may consistofemulsified asphalt, or any other suitable cementing agent, such as onecontaining a base of plaster-of-Paris with suit-. able modifyingingredients.

A fiber or metal washer may be put on the clip 23 between the strip 20and ceiling surface 16.

This washer 23d serves to stop up the hole 25 so as to actwith thecement 26 to prevent breathing through said hole.

In the form of the' invention shown in Fig. 2, we use strips of plasteror wallboard 28 instead of the metal strips 20. These strips of plasterboard consist of a cementitious core material 29 of gypsum base faced onboth sides with paper cover sheets 30. The strips '28 are preferablyadhesively attached to the ceiling surface 16 by means of a cementingagent 31, preferably composed of emulsified asphalt or a compositionhavi g p1asterof-Paris as its base. Toggle bolts '32 of standardconstruction pass through drilled holes in the strip 28 and the plasterlayer 16, outstanding arms 33 serving to confine the plaster layer 16and strip 28 between the heads of the bolt and said arms when the boltis screwed tight. The tiles 10 are adhesively attached to the strip 28by a cementing agent, such as that used in the construction shown inFig. 1, this cementing agent or adhesive being so applied as to formshoulders 34 which enclose the edges of the strip 28 to form amechanical key.

The construction shown in Fig. 3 is a modified form of our inventionwhich is more-particularly adapted to acoustical tiles arranged inirregular patterns where the joints between the adjoining tiles do notcome in one long line. In such a case, it is desirable to use a sheet ofexpanded metal 35 covering the entire ceiling area. The toggle bolts 32can be used for aiding in securing the expanded metal sheets 35 to theplaster layer 16 and in such a case, special elongated washers 36 areprovided adjacent the heads of the toggle bolts so as to engage themeshes of the expanded metal. Wire clips 23 shown in Fig. lmay be usedinstead of the toggle bolts 32 if desired in this construction or thatshown in Fig. 2.

When. the tiles are to be applied to concrete surfaces, 'or to concretesurfaces covered by plaster lead shields or other suitable anchor boltsof standard design may be employed in holes formed in the concrete, soas to secure the furring strips to the building surface.

The methods of attachment described have proved highly successful inattaching acoustical tiles to a ceiling of a room. The cementing agentcomes in direct contact with the material or body of the tile itself sothat expansion and contraction of tile due to temperature changes willnot break loose the tile from the ceiling surface.

Furthermore, the breathing of the tiles is prevented since the adhesivematerial overlaps the edges of the paper cover sheets 14 so as toprevent any air filtration through the tiles with the consequent soilingof the surface of the tile.

The cementing agent 26 is preferably used in excess so that it fills upthe holes 25 about the wire clips 23, or toggle bolts, and prevents anyair from passing through the tile and ceiling layer 16.

We would state in conclusion that while the illustrated examplesconstitute a practical embodiment of our invention, we do not wish tolimit-ourselves precisely to these details, since manifestly, the samemay be considerably varied without departing from the spirit of theinvention as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent-- 1. In a building construction, a buildingsurface, a perforate metal strip extending along said building surface,means for mechanically attaching said metal strip to said surface, acementing agent extending into the openings in said strip, and tileshaving their adjoining margins adhesively attached to said strip andbuilding surface adjacent said strip.

2. In a building construction, a building surface including. a plasterlayer, a sheet of expanded metal mechanically attached to said plasterlayer, and acoustical tiles adhesively attached .to said expanded metalsheet and said building surface.

3. In a building construction, a building 8111'!- face including a layerof plaster, ,furring strips extending along said plaster layer,anchoring means extending through said strip and said layer so as tomechanically attach said strip to said layer, and acoustical tilesadhesively attached to said strip.

4. In a building construction, a building surface including a layer ofplaster having a plurality of holes extending therethrough, a furringstrip on said surface adjacent said holes, fastening means extendingthrough said strip and holes so as to attach said strip to said surface,adhesive material adjacent said strip and filling said holes about saidfastening means to' prevent breathing through said holes, and acousticaltiles secured to said strip.

HARRY K. LINZELL. HERBERT W. REEL.

